Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen - December 2019 | Page 14

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■ Failure by an excavator to comply with
s. 556.105(6), F.S., which requires an
excavator to avoid excavation in an
area until whichever of the following
occurs first: each member operator’s
underground facilities have been
located and marked; the excavator
has been notified that no member
operator has underground facilities
in the area; or the time allowed for
markings has expired.
■ Failure by an excavator to comply
with s. 556.106(11), F.S., which requires
an excavator to stop excavation and
demolition activities in the vicinity of
an underground facility and notify the
Sunshine 811 system if the marking
for the facility is removed or no longer
visible.
■ Failure by an excavator to comply
with s. 556.105(12), F.S., which requires
an excavator to immediately notify
the appropriate member operator if
the excavator causes contact with or
damage to a pipe and to immediately
call 911 to report contact or damage
that causes the escape of any natural
gas or other hazardous substance or
material regulated by PHMSA.
■ If the clerk of court collects a civil
penalty for one of these violations,
the bill provides that 100 percent of
the civil penalty will be distributed
to the entity that issued the citation.
The additional five percent, plus any
DITCHMEN • DECEMBER 2019
additional court costs, is retained by
the clerk to cover administrative costs.
The bill provides that a person who
fails to properly respond to a citation
issued for one of these violations
will be charged with the offense of
failing to respond to the citation and, if
convicted, commits a misdemeanor of
the second degree. The bill provides
that a written warning to this effect
must be provided at the time the
citation is issued.
■ Require each clerk of court to submit an
annual report to the State Fire Marshal
listing each violation notice written under
Ch. 556, F.S., which was filed in that
county during the preceding calendar
year.
■ Require Sunshine 811 to transmit reports
of incidents that involve high-priority
subsurface installations (HPSI) for
investigation by one of the following
authorities, who may issue a citation and
impose a civil penalty for a violation of
Ch. 556, F.S., that was a proximate cause
of the incident: the State Fire Marshal,
the fire chief of the county in which the
incident occurred, a local or state law
enforcement officer, a government code
inspector, or a code enforcement officer.
Ninety-five percent of the civil penalty
will be distributed to the investigating
authority that issued the citation, with the
remaining 5 percent retained by the clerk
of court for administrative costs.